How the Covox and Disney Sound Source Worked.

[@JamieBainbridge]

"A one-voice sound synthesizer which can only produce square waves" is seriously the best description of a PC speaker I've ever heard.

Well to be fair this is not entirely true, it was really 1 bit, but if the CPU could work enough it could do a kind-of PWM using the inertia of the speaker

[@thelballyt]

Now we have a 2 bit sound synthesizer that can produce all kinds of digital waves!

[@dlol.]

TheLBall im pretty sure there is way more than just 2bit bit ok

[@yetidynamics]

Dungeon Master for the PC came with the "FTL sound adaptor" which looks and functions like the Covox, in 1987

[@connro]

For anyone wondering, the music he used to sample the various sound devices in the MOD software is called Space Deliria by the Crusaders.

[@BucketHead4901]

Did some digging, there is a track by that name by the Crusaders but the one in the video is by Dr. Awesome,

[@ametislady2]

"Even kitty approves" The only approval that matters

[@EnriqueGonzalez-qo5hn]

I agree, but the correct word is "approbation"

[@39zack]

😸😸

[@lettuce7378]

meow.

[@franprarod]

That's a multimedia kitty 🐈😊

[@vittosphonecollection57289]

@@franprarod 8-Bit Cat

[@LGR]

Awesome video, David. Had no idea that Tandy emulator existed!

[@FedorSteeman]

A wild Lazy Game Reviewer appeared! (I know it's getting old)

[@deadplsdonotlook]

Lazy Game Reviews *you like woodgrain*

[@AveryatTwoohFive]

YA LIKE WOODGRAIN

[@markpenrice6253]

Hey, that's no way to talk about LGR. Everyone is getting older all the time. [Train #2's engine is getting old]

[@NikkiWrightVGM]

*Sees Duke Nukem in the video* I bet Clint posted here... *scrolls down*

[@carledwards9477]

I built myself a DAC that plugged into the parallel port of my (then amazing) IBM 486. My main aim was to get MOD files to play and it worked really well. I still have the thing, somewhere. Hard to throw something away when you had to build three before it worked! Those were the days!

[@mitchthompson3246]

Love the Duck Tales "The Moon" Nintendo music in the background.

[@dylanfinch2951]

10:12 It's amazing the way that laptop telepathically popped into his hands

[@XTHHedgehog]

Lmao

[@KevboKev]

I have to say, and this may sound silly, but my wife and I are currently at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) with our newborn son, Finnegan, as of June 7th with many ailments and things we are all trying to figure out, but while we sit bedside with him, my wife and I have our laptops and watch Plex or KZbin videos. Well, your channel is one of my absolute favorites on KZbin, and it made me smile really big to see this new post today. I enjoy this channel and 8-bit keys so much (being a keyboardist myself) that I found myself watching all your videos again, just because, and they do bring a smile to my face. I love your content, the editing is fantastic, and your knowledge on all your content brings out the 80s kid in me. And for the length of one of your videos, you take me away for a bit, and the worries just melt away for a small amount of time. It truly means a lot. From a parent going through quite a rough time right now, from the bottom of my heart.....thank you, David! ~Kevin

[@KennethNicholson1972]

@Kevbo Kev. I know how it feels to have a child seriously unwell in hospital. My firstborn had meningitis so we were months first in intesive care, thenspecialist unit for her skin grafts. My second child was 8 weeks premature and had many complications that involved intensive care for a while and many procedures. I sincerely send you all my Love and I am praying for your family. I truly hope your little Boy gets through this and gets well soon. I know how it feels to be a Dad that is helpless to fix anything. Stay strong Brother. Love and peace from the UK.

[@roderickwhitehead]

Prayers for little Finnegan.

[@KevboKev]

:-) Thank you very much for the words. They mean a lot. I wish you all the best for you and your family.

[@KevboKev]

Thank you. :-)

[@fishmonger1526]

CHOP is a great facility - I had to spend a week there a couple months ago, everyone is in good hands and they know their stuff. Also, their food court is banging. Make sure you let Finnegan know how well you ate while you were there ;)

[@DataCab1e]

"Yes, this is the speaker that could produce square-wave tones that we're all familiar with. So, how did that work?" Poorly.

[@Rennyputansu650]

Haha

[@pharmtek]

I love the CPU/Buffer/DAC illustration. Thanks for another great video

[@Domarius64]

This video was actually really technically informative, hearing the difference between the frequencies and also appreciating what it would take from the CPU when some or all of the work of making sound is left for it to handle.

[@stevenclark2188]

The hilarious part about parallel DACs is they are usually a ladder shaped network of resistors. A speech thin clone can be built with entirely passives if you don't care about quality much.

[@boriscat1999]

I built mine many many years ago. it was a ball of electrical tape and poorly soldered resistors.

[@mikkoajt]

Building your own speech thing was quite popular in Finland too. If I remember correctly also the demoscene supported the speech thing.

[@siriokds]

@@mikkoajt I still waiting for a video about GUS used very often in demoscene as you know.

We used a covox built exactly this way, a jack and an LPT connector and some resistors. Worked pretty well.

[@driptopia]

Wow man trending. Went from 26k, to 100k, to 500k, now trending! Keep up the great work David.

[@philscomputerlab]

That list on Moby games is a bit misleading as it counts the Covox Sound Master. Far less games actually support the parallel port device unfortunately.

[@primemeow]

Michal Nemecek No, he means the Covox Sound Blaster.

[@yukatoshi]

Kind of a mute point now there's a parallel AdLib choice.lol.

[@aDifferentJT]

II II *moot

[@HYPERPLASMATIER]

Man, I gotta appreciate how much you've improved over the years. The white balance wasnt some of these irl shots, But now? You've got an amazing set up. Amazing to see the progress you've made David.

[@marklechman2225]

Love that opening music, so 80s. Would love to hear a longer version!

[@pondermatic68]

This is a very well researched and produced video. I really like the new intro/outro music.

[@rickyleeufc]

the intro music is perfect for this channel.. totally gets you in the mood for some flashbacks to the past !! good work keep it up 👍

[@GenuinelyJake]

I love when you put the kittie in. So Adorable. Also love that synth music in the background.

[@Larry]

Sounds VERY Amiga-ish.

[@Sinulab]

dude - so love watching your videos. I was born in '70 and grew up with a Sinclair 1000 and Apple IIe. A software engineer today, I relive my youth watching these videos. =D

[@nihonam]

I wonder what sounds wil covox blow if keep it plugged while send some printing out to LPT.

[@chnhakk]

yes he should try that

[@bravo3000pirate]

Elevator music

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Ever had the opportunity to hear what a modem or fax sens when dialing? it should be pretty similar.

[@AlphasysNl]

There would not be happening anything, unless you fake the computer into thinking that there's an actual printer there. A printer uses a few more lines than the 9 for a covox.

[@stevec00ps]

Or a parallel port Zip drive? I might set that up tomorrow!

[@MetalJesusRocks]

Loved this video!! I remember the Disney sound and having to support it :)

[@OpenGL4ever]

My "Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro" that was sold as "Soundblaster Pro 4.0 from CPS" in Germany does support Disney Sound Source (DSS) and Covox Speech Thing thanks to an internal parallel port. But i never knew this, neither did i know that there was a TSR program, that can emulate Tandy sound. On the other side i didn't need that. Most of the games i played where released after 1989 and thus usually supported Adlib or Soundblaster.

[@theandroids6796]

I remember having my old 386 years ago and this odd device called a Speech Thing that I never figured out how to use. Keep in mine I was 10 at the time.

[@infinitecanadian]

I had intended to donate my Atari 8-bit computer to a museum. The RAM chipset was compromised and many of the disks were no longer functioning. However, when I saw you put a Compact Flash SCSI drive into a Macintosh and realized that there are many ways of fixing vintage computers and even upgrading them, I decided that I am going to try to repair my beloved Atari 800XL that I had so much fun on in high school. I am then going to get a cartridge with Compact Flash support and download a whole whack of software and have fun again. Thank you for your inspiration!

[@hikari_no_yume]

But the most fun thing about the Covox is making one yourself! It's just a parallel port and some resistors.

[@videotoblin]

My homebrew Speckle Think (as I called it) was involved in a deadly collision between my IBM Compatible Laptop and the wood floor...

[@lbsiuk]

@@videotoblin Oh dear.

[@TheWolvesCurse]

if you know your way with electronics that is. i can bend and bond sheetmetal to my liking, but resistors, capacitors, transistors and their function are witchcraft to me xD. i can switch out the pick ups of my electric guitars though. :D

[@Scalibq]

I must say, I like the breadth and the accuracy of all the information in your videos. You tell a lot of interesting details of the inner workings of these devices, and all the information is spot-on.

[@Niskirin]

Can you put some info on the music that you played when you showed the tracker music just after the 4:00 mark? Also, any hints on what to search for to get more like it?

[@rayh594]

Check out www.scenemusic.net/demovibes/ and modarchive.org/ There are many more, but that's a good start.

[@BarnacleButtock]

Ray Heasman Thank you

[@colonelgork]

bump for source

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, that was actually a fairly generic example of an Amiga-style MOD file at the time. Like another comment said, you should be able to find a lot like it at modarchive.org. Hell, half of Amiga games had soundtracks that sounded like that.

[@daever995]

modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=57926 That is the song

[@chinapaulo]

The new intro is dope.

[@DarkWiNKenzo]

You are so right

[@Geeksmithing]

I have a desire to play Ducktales all of a sudden.... not sure why....

[@Sama3L]

Felt the same strange desire...

[@Zuudo]

Thought I was imagining it

[@Sama3L]

bwoah... for real?

[@Geeksmithing]

Vikrinox nah, I don't think that was it...🤔

[@STCK78]

he played the moon theme when he was explaining how the music systems worked at the beginning

[@hehehehehehheeheeh9706]

I've only been a subscriber for a short time, but I really like watching these videos. I've always been fascinated by old technology and how they work, and this is the perfect channel for watching that kind of stuff. I feel like I have a better understanding of how this stuff works. Thank you for providing this content!

[@LMacNeill]

I spent WAY too much time playing Duke Nuke'm 3D and Prince of Persia back in the day. Two of my favorite old games, no doubt.

[@moenchii]

I love that music in the background while you explain the PC speaker sounds. Has a flair of nostalgia for me for the pokemon games and combines it with something very interesting from before my time on this planet.

[@Krzychu-bh4rl]

I think that this device is simply R-2R DAC with amplifier. There are on internet some schematics with you can do your own soundcard for serial port. Very interesting episode :)

[@MOSMASTERING]

Oh no, I'm really late commenting. Hope you see this Mr 8-Bit Guy.. Great video. Love the intro too. Your presentation style is top notch. Keep up the good work. Gonna start to patronise your channel now.. I have decided, seeing that I don't pay the UK TV license (you have to pay in the UK to own a TV and watch the few terrestrial channels available) If you don't watch TV then you don't have to pay. I no longer own a TV, only a monitor.. So I'm going to put that money towards channels that I do enjoy and watch online. For me now, and the future is obviously all about KZbin and Internet Radio for me (Radio Paradise - best internet radio show ever, I support that too because I listen to is about 5 hours a day!) It's just a shame you don't get to talk to other people about what you're watching because its so specialised now.. 20 years ago, everyone watched the same 3 TV channels and talked about whatever the only thing worth watching was because everyone was forced to watch it!

[@UXXV]

11:55 "a few years ago" *Screen shows 1995*

[@adrianchadd]

Hi! The best part about the Covox was the simplicity and how quickly you could build your own. I built an LPT DAC in high school in the 90s and used it to play and write mod music at school where we had fast computers with no sound cards. Plenty of friends got their first taste of electronics then by building one of these for their home IBM compatible before they could save up for a soundblaster. Ah, memories!

[@MaximNightFury]

IDK why people are still complaining about the intro, I actually like it

[@stewiegriffin6503]

because people don't like changes

[@MaximNightFury]

wow, this is on trending​!

[@j.redhead]

Yea, the graphics are much more interesting, though I agree with others that the old intro had sharper sound. Plus the (awesome) sound of clacking keys. :)

[@AirborneSurfer]

The new music is pretty rad, but I need my PREEEOOOOOOWWWW 😋

[@MaximNightFury]

AirborneSurfer then watch old videos

[@IsaacsTech]

This channel has grown so much! I subscribed when his iBook repair videos were new, lots of chance since then and now your in the trending! I hope you grow a lot more!

[@lolfreddy]

Gotta love that Duck Tales Moon Theme song Remix! ;)

[@ChrisToefurBackCashGrab]

I came here to ask what that was, it was on the tip of my tongue, thanks :)

[@taffowst]

It didn't last long enough! Would listen to that forever

[@swiperthesniper7355]

"Even kitty approves."Everyone,I present to you , 8-Bit Cat.

[@JasperTedVidalTale]

Or 8-Bit Kitty

[@Lomaxxx53]

Liking that new intro :DD

[@tomypower4898]

Dixit Dominus answer yes and yes!!!

[@Stonehawk]

I am ADORING your new intro, man!

[@Oxocero]

Such a cute and beautiful kitty cat. :3

[@thegoodwillhustle4710]

Oxocero Hi!!! Come see my new videos!! Subscribe for more Thrifting and dollar tree fun!!!😊😊😊

[@thejay8963]

The Goodwill Hustle SHUT UP, CLINT IS MILLIONS OF TIMES BETTER AT THRIFTING THAN YOU SUBSCRIBER-BEGGING IDIOTS!

[@sylarclark3804]

9:37 its ment more for sound fx? And speach??? .. I wanna hear that sound system try to run the audio for half life spasificaly the iconic tram ride. "Good morning and wellcome to the black mesa transit system. Ect :)

[@MemeReviewer]

4:09 nice job using Space Deliria.

[@wildstray92]

I greatly respect how informative your videos are, and I thoroughly enjoy all the details. Thanks for all your hard work.

[@wojkyblublu9274]

I adore 8 bit guy :)

[@drphilxr]

have exact same laptop setup w/covox 4 and thank God for 8bit guy rediscovering this for all of us!

[@pryl]

at around 12:40, I was waiting for an "I" to show up for your tetris

[@billlumburgh8272]

One of the best vids I've seen on your channel, retro sound card stuff is awesome!

[@papi9196]

I like the song he used for the sound testing but I don't know what it's called 😞

[@somethingsomethingson34]

It's called Space Deliria. You're welcome. :D watch?v=_g60hfiO1WY

[@micha2505-ki6my]

go to 12:03 an look at the top-left of the ms-dos laptop screen, you will see "TEMU" on the screen

[@leonard8510]

LOL... that freakin' Domino's Noid game

[@davekimball3610]

I was just saying, holy crap, it's the Noid!

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

Recycled footage from the "How old-school videogame music works" episode, too.

[@AirborneSurfer]

Yo! Noid!

[@Jartny]

After a long work day from Sunrise to Sunset of painting a house all day, nothing makes me feel better than to come home, get in to bed and see a new 8-bit guy video.

[@ThePhantomSafetyPin]

I had the SoundSource on my dad's Windows 3.11 machine when I was a child, and I didn't remember it until I saw the shape of that speaker. Holy shit.

[@blackmagic7976]

The song is Space Deliria by Dr. Awesome.

[@herrpez]

3:58 "knulla kuk" He he he he.

[@WednesdayMan]

the new intro is great. in fact it's so good I never once thought of the old intro

[@enderdavid_hdde348]

0:42 ducktales nes moon remix... nice🤣🤣🤣

[@NickPlaysShit]

Enderdavid_ hd I’ve been hearing that everywhere... That’s what it is. Thanks, I thought it was Kirby or some other shit. Thanks.

[@andyfawcett7060]

One of my favourite tracks on any nes game

[@florianthesnow]

Ah, thanks, I was trying to figure out just that!

[@gamertech360]

Always love catching your videos! You do an awesome job bringing my childhood back to life and I always learn something to boot!

[@alcid34]

I think you should have mentioned that the Speech Thing is simple to make since it's just made up of a resistor ladder that plugs into your parallel adapter. It's not that hard to create your own Speech Thing and a schematic of it is available at the Speech Thing's Wikipedia article.

[@Roxor128]

The docs that come with Triton Productions' "Crystal Dream" demo also include instructions on how to build one. They also include instructions for a stereo version which the demo supports, too.

[@Discern4]

Roxor128 - wow, I might've been game enough to try that if I had that demo back in the day. Our family PC only had PC speaker at the time with no expansion port to chuck in an SB16.

[@Roxor128]

Discern4 - Well, if you don't have a vintage PC to build them for and have to limit yourself to emulators like I do, DOSBox can emulate both. I don't know if it's in the official v0.74, but it's definitely in the SVN versions. I'm actually listening to Crystal Dream with it right now.

[@Discern4]

Roxor128 - Oh, I have no desire to do it these days, but it would've been a godsend back then when my only option was PC speaker.

[@VerzoHoldStudio]

You can use a new PC with DOS and the parallel port works the same. Actually any modern PC can be used as an "old PC with only PC-speaker". Except that some newer software support modern sound circuitry. You can also run DOSBox on real DOS and emulate old hardware components.

[@wvecst]

new intro is a great next step in my opinion, ignore these gremlins. i always look forward to your videos. 8bitkeys included!

[@ajvark]

9:12 disney sound source sounds way worse, but the lo-fi nature of it sounds like something hipsters would be all over.

[@MatSpeedle]

Love the new intro/jingle and everything you upload Dave! Keep up the good work!

[@BadKarma714]

I love the 80's Intro also did you get the Keyboard I sent yet

I had a homemade covox, before I could afford a sound card for my PC. It only required a parallel port, a mini jack port and a handful of resistors to make, and could be soldered within an hour. Didn't look pretty, but it served me well for a long time :)

[@LoftBits]

...and there were kits sold in plastic bags, ready for DIY soldering, available at... Gielda na Grzybowskiej! Pozdrowienia :-)

[@95ville95]

Lmao, "Knulla Kuk" at 3:52 Any Swede or Norwegian here?

[@hammerfallfan1]

Vem kan glömma dom tidlösa klassikerna som land of feelings, fountain of sigh och knulla kuk...

[@bjornhanses2836]

Asså🤣

[@anomalix]

Lite sent men ja jag hajjade till lite där..

[@silkkimuikku134]

One from Finland also laughing out loud

[@wiktoreriksson4566]

Yep, Swede here.

[@griffithsvlogsandsoongamin9605]

I love the new intro and it sounds amazing in headphones

[@DieselJS]

I quite like the new intro....

[@rossithomas2415]

Seeing this little paper wheel for piracy protection brought back lovely memories! That would be a great episode to go through all those inventive ways game and software developpers used to protect against piracy back then

[@sevensystemscross-platform1701]

Heh, now I know that I actually built a “Covox” when I connected 8 resistors with 128k, 64k, 32k, ... to the parallel port :)

[@BrainSlugs83]

@3:17 Correction D0 - D7 on the LPT port are not GPIO -- they're output only on most implementations (it's true that some ports can be configured in BIOS to allow IO on these, but that was fairly rare -- most LPT products that needed bi-directional communication used the ACK/BUSY/ERROR, etc. pins as the input pins).

[@InsanePsychoRabbit]

*OMG NEW 8-BIT GUY VIDEO* (faints)

[@InsanePsychoRabbit]

OMG DUCKTALES REMIX (faints again)

[@Dukefazon]

I really dig your videos. Technical enough to keep it interesting but not too technical I fell out.

[@daveb5041]

What do you mean the sound source sounds bad? I thought you had just cut scenes to a live orchestra!

[@BuddyBoy600alt]

What was that tune at 8:53?

[@IllidanS4]

I made a modified DOSBox that records PC Speaker and can convert it to MIDI.

[@Wflash00]

I would love to hear what Commander Keen game play sounds like as a midi 😆😆

[@luha628]

Congrats on getting a video on the trending list!

[@masterbawler]

whats the name of the song that you used for testing?

[@VitekSTZero]

"Spacedeliria", here on The Mod Archive: modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=57926

[@linushyper300]

WANNA GO BOWLING?

[@maxcaine9280]

It's by Bjorn Lynne, and you can listen to hecka updated tracks from him if you look him up

[@ChaseMC215]

Your new Intro is awesome!!!

[@ACA332]

This would be great for IBM PS/2 systems since finding a Microchannel sound card is damn near impossible!

[@McSynth]

I love the work that you put into your videos. Addictive.

[@jessepatterson8897]

The second anyone puts the moon theme from ducktails in their video, they get a thumbs up, sub and my unconditional love

[@WrongHandedGuitarist]

True story. After we got our first 386, I downloaded a copy of FastTracker I, which was used to create those Amiga MOD files you mention in this video. I really wanted to try my hand at making some myself but we didn't have a sound card at the time. Amazingly in the help notes for that program it had a schematic and instructions for creating a homemade Covox D/A converter. One trip to Radio Shack with my older brother later and we had our own Covox clone that served us until we managed to get an SB16. Still have it too!

[@lara-nanas]

Great vidéo, tks :) Btw at 3:58, thé higthligthed .MOD file name "ma grande verge" mean in french "my big pen*s" , what does it do here looool XD

[@urielc918]

There's also "knulla kuk" which means "f*ck c*ck"

[@Aikisbest]

@@urielc918 Yea, I just saw that XD

[@Ofotherworlds]

We had the Disney Sound Source on the family computer as a kid. I remember it most from the Dick Tracey game. I had a 688 attack sub game but I'm not sure it was the one 8-Bit Guy mentioned. I think it was but I'm not 100% sure. At any rate, this is my childhood. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@randomunavailable]

Those blessed Amiga mods. Mmmm.

[@Roxor128]

Not just the Amiga (though you can't deny that's where the family originated). I listen to plenty of mods in formats that originated on DOS systems (mainly S3M and XM, with a few IT here and there).

[@randomunavailable]

Roxor128 Absolutely. There are quite a number of quality xm mods floating about. In fact it took the Amiga with at least a 68020 to play them.

[@Roxor128]

I can't say I have much familiarity with the 68k family of processors (I grew up on DOS). How does the 68020 compare to its x86 counterparts?

[@randomunavailable]

I'd say the 68020 was closer to a 486, If the 68000 was a typical 386 for example. The 68020 had support for a math coprocessor, and had more internal 24 and 32 bit registers than the 68000. It also ran at higher clock speeds, at least 14 mhz vs. 7 for the 68000 as well as a few other data caching enhancements.

[@KrotowX]

@@randomunavailable It was also RISC. Pity that IBM screwed things with PowerPC (or more precisely got stuck with chip building tech limitations 2 decades ago). Otherwise x86 CPU architecture most likely would be a history already at today.

[@MausSpaece]

I've really enjoyed watching this channel. I had a lot of the older PC items you've reviewed such as the Tandy 1000SX.

[@Sabrintwitt3r]

Covox Speech "Thingy"

[@videogamegalaxyfl]

Me and my son love your channel. I love sports and my son loves computers. Even thos we are opposite ends of the spectrum the gamer in both of us find common gtound and we watch all your videos together. Thanks for the great content.

[@smufkin]

*ducktales moon song plays* *COMPTUTER STARTS FLYING*

[@jessepatterson8897]

Thank you baby Jesus I’m not the only one who freaks out when they hear that chip tune.

[@sfs2040]

Fantastic work as always! I love learning about these old pieces of hardware.

[@thegreypenguin5097]

Omg, I think that he is using MAC OS SIERRA. HE FINALLY UPGRADED! I KNEW HOS COMPUTER COULD RUN SIERRA!! And btw, High Sierra is coming out. Can you do a review when it comes out?

[@Oscar-iz6hx]

The Gray Penguin he can might have used El Capitan or Yosemite Instead

[@TheHermitHacker]

Thank you for making me feel like a kid again! This was so much fun to watch and yes, i learned something in the process. Always wondered how this stuff worked.

[@claudiomuzzi8134]

Ducktales remastered moon theme😄

[@robloxman5580]

Congrats The 8-Bit Guy for getting you video on trending

[@SynchroRat]

last time I was this early he was The ibook guy

[@clayerik]

Thanks to Covox show, it was really good device. We was make music in back days for this. And when we get Soundblaster, our songs sounds automatically better :)